Appendix A, which is an integral part of the present disclosure, includes a computer program listing of components of the Microsoft Visual C++ project used to create a dynamically linked library (DLL) named IEHooker.DLL for implementing the direct telephone dialing scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Appendix B, which is an integral part of the present disclosure, shows modifications to the Microsoft Windows registry for implementing the direct telephone dialing scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Appendices A and B contain copyrighted material. The copyright owner, Dialpad.com, Inc., has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documents or patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to voice communications; and in particular, the present invention relates to a method for initiating internet telephone service from a web page.
2. Background of the Invention
Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology has spawned made available internet telephone services. An internet telephone service allows a caller to place a telephone call from his/her personal computer (PC) through the internet to another audio communication device, such as a wired or wireless telephone. VoIP technology is based on the ITU-T H.323 standard and supports audio, video, data, or fax communications using the internet protocol (IP) on the public internet and within private intranets.
Internet telephone service can take many forms. Typically, a caller accesses an internet telephone service provider""s web site which provides an interface to the internet telephone service. The caller enters then the telephone number he wishes to dial. The telephone service xe2x80x9cdialsxe2x80x9d the telephone number and xe2x80x9cringsxe2x80x9d the destination communication device (e.g. a telephone).
However, improvements over the existing internet telephone services are desired. In particular, it is desirable to provide features to make internet telephone services more convenient and accessible.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method for initiating an internet telephone service from a web page containing at least one telephone number comprises: (a) accessing the web page using a browser; (b) downloading a web page document associated with the web page; (c) parsing the web page document for detecting a character string indicative of a telephone number; (d) modifying the character string in the web page document into a link to the internet telephone service; (e) providing the web page document including the modified character string to the browser; and (f) displaying the web page on the browser including the telephone number.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises: (g) selecting the character string indicative of the telephone number; (h) activating the link to the internet telephone service; (i) passing the telephone number to the internet telephone service; (j) launching a server side script at the internet telephone service for initiating a telephone call to the telephone number; and (k) establishing two-way communications between a caller selecting the character string and a destination audio device designated by the telephone number.
The present invention is better understood upon consideration of the detailed description below and the accompanying drawings.